


Transformers Prime Headhunters

by nw150



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Implied Underage Violence, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nw150/pseuds/nw150
Summary: AU What if some of the human members of team prime weren't as helpless as the bots originally thought?  (Ratings and properties may change. Please read the first note!)
Relationships: Jack Darby/Miko Nakadai
Comments: 22
Kudos: 57





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately my computer is not working right now and I don't feel like risking my health to go out and get it fixed. So, I'm trying to write all of this on my cell phone using Google Docs and speech to text. So despite my best efforts grammatical errors will be unfortunately common. If the story is popular enough and I get enough of it written out, I'll go back and Polish things up when my computer is it working again. But in the meantime, please be patient and try to enjoy the story being told.
> 
> continuity stuff. This is an AU right out of the gate. So here are some things to keep in mind, and while these things don't matter right now they will eventually and just the way events are laid out these things have to be to avoid mind-boggling plot holes.
> 
> Events of the pilot and season 1 start in 2013.
> 
> Jack and Miko are both 16.
> 
> one last thing I need to mention before we get started this story is going to have multiple references to 9/11 if this is it going to be an issue for you then either proceed with caution or don't read. I can't change this without causing serious problems with the story.
> 
> this story is basically a fusion Transformers Prime and another popular franchise. I own neither one of these. And if you guessed what it is from the title and description please do not spoil it for anyone in the reviews. If you do, A I will delete your review and B I will break physics reach through the internet and punch you in the face…
> 
> Enjoy the show!!!!

As his eyes fluttered open Jack took a couple the moments to let the sleep drain from his mind. Looking over at his alarm clock, he quickly reached over and switched it off. 3:59 AM, as usual. As the young man stood up out of bed and started stretching, he thought to himself.  _ "Old habits die hard I guess. Still, I wonder if I'll ever actually need that thing? I mean it's been almost four years and I don't think that alarm's gone off once." _

Putting these thoughts aside he walked over and unhooked his phone from the charger on his dresser. A moment later he had a timer set for an hour, when his mom would get up. After that, he went back to his bed and spent a few minutes checking on the contents he had stored underneath. Satisfied, Jack put everything back in its place. Used to be a simple look over like that wouldn't suffice at all but some things have started to slip with time, despite his stubborn internal clock. Jack spent the hour doing a quick sweep of his room to make sure that everything was in its place, then did a regiment of simple exercises until the timer went off. 

Silencing his phone, he went to the closet and threw on a pair of shorts and a shirt before heading out his door to the kitchen. After turning the coffee pot on, he got out a few pans and started making the usual breakfast fair. Scrambled eggs, bacon, a couple of small steaks and some hash browns.

While cooking Jack couldn't help but chuckled to himself as he remembered a few years ago when his mom got on a fitness Kik. She had wanted to start making low calorie, low-fat healthier meals for both of them. They had gone back and forth on the subject for days until Jack had sat down, written out the math and shown her that his body just wouldn't run on "health food". His good humor quickly turned sour however, when he remembered his mother's retort. "But this diet should be fine for a boy your age."

What followed after could only be described as a painfully awkward silence, as both of their minds registered what his mother had said and both where at a complete loss for what to say or do next. Just like that, an issue that had been there for months was suddenly and unexpectedly brought front and center. As simple and mundane as it would seem, a casual discussion about dietary choices had painfully cut through the illusion of normalcy the small family had entertained.

  
  


The sound of steps coming down the hallway derailed his thoughts as he greeted his mother without taking his eyes off the food. "Morning mom." 

"Good morning, sweetie." June Darby replied through a yawn. 

"Coffee should be about done and I'll have the table set in a minute."

"Thank you Jack." June said with a smile in her voice as she made her way to the coffee. As she began to pour herself a cup, she commented jokingly "I swear, it's like mother's day every day with you isn't it? Are you ever gonna let me do  _ anything  _ around here?"

Jack chuckled while he put the food on the table, "Can't help it, I'm naturally responsible. That, and I get bored easily. And besides, is there a law somewhere that says that I can't take care of my mom?"

June just smirked and shook her head while she took a seat with her coffee at the kitchen table. "First of all, High school and a job isn't enough for you? And second, there is a law against it when your poor mother starts putting on pounds she doesn't need." she said with a fake pout. 

Jack rolled his eyes with a laugh. "Right and I'm sure your nice relaxing dull completely inactive job in an emergency room does  _ absolutely nothing _ to help you with all the calories."

After that, conversation lulled as both of them were digging into their breakfast. As usual, Jack finished eating much faster than his mother and got up to get himself a glass of orange juice. 

Seeing where her son was going, June commented between bites, "I still don't know how you can just eat all that food and not drink anything.".

Jack shrugged while pulling the juice carton out of the fridge and replied with a bit of humor in his tone. "Sitdown meals are still kinda new to me I guess, not use to getting my food and drink all at once."

While Jack was getting a glass from the cabinet he almost didn't hear his mother's tone change as she sighed. Jack mentally kicked himself.  _ Wow, nice going Jack! Better change the subject before this conversation goes downhill. _

After filling the glass, he returned the carton to the fridge while saying, "Hey mom, what's up with the weird shift today? I thought you went to the hospital before I got back from work.".

"Usually but I'm covering for Sam today." June replied, as she continued eating albeit much slower then she had been before Jack had accidentally opened a particular can of worms.

Seeing his chance, Jack sat back down at the table with his orange juice and did his best to keep the conversation going. "Really, what's going on with her?"

June shrugged and continued with a bit more energy, much to her son's relief. "I didn't understand everything she said when she asked me to take her shift but apparently she's stranded at a bachelorette party on the other side of the country. Something about hangovers, broken alarm clocks and stoned taxi drivers. And now she can't get another flight back until this afternoon."

Jack almost choked on his orange juice and struggled to contain a coughing fit. "Wow um, okay. That's a new one." He said once he could speak again. 

"Ya, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised." June said with an edge to her voice. 

Jack raised his eyebrow. "Mom? What's wrong, are you that mad at Sam? I thought you two did favors for each other all the time."

June let out a slow huff. "It's not Sam, it's just, I'm always spending so much time at the hospital and with your job and school I don't hardly get to see you. And on top of that, some days it feels like you've always been here and nothing happened. Other days, it's like I just got you back yesterday."

Jack inwardly cringed.  _ Well crap, so much for changing the subject. Shouldn't have made that comment about sitdown meals.  _

"Mom relax, it's just one extra shift." Jack tried to reassure his mother. 

  
  


June cut him off. "I know but I just wish that we could be bonding and making up for lost time together instead of running around each other all day." 

Jack smiled and said. "Calm down mom it's like I said, it's just one extra shift. Then if something crazy doesn't happen, we'll have all weekend to do whatever we want. And we'll keep making up for lost time, just like we've been doing for four years now. One extra shift isn't going to be the end of the world. Okay?"

Taking a moment to collect herself, June took a deep breath and lightly chuckled. "Remind me again, which one of us is supposed to be the parent? I'm sorry its just that I had that damned dream again last night. I have to watch you being taken away again, then I'll see you in a jungle or desert somewhere beaten bloody and alone."

His mom sounded like she was close to tears. So Jack jumped in as quickly as he could with a bit of humor. "Okay first off, I don't think I was ever alone. And second, would it be too cliche to say you should have seen the other guys?"

Despite herself, June couldn't keep from busting out laughing. "Oh jeez, thanks Jack. I really needed that."

Jack smiled as he got up from the table. "I could tell. Now sorry but I have to finish getting ready for school and you have to get to work."

"Yes dad." June replied sarcastically as she downed the rest of her coffee. 

Jack just rolled his eyes good naturedly as he made his way out of the kitchen. "Oh and leave the dishes, I'll clean up on my way out."

"Jackson Darby! Are you  _ ever  _ going to let me do  _ anything  _ around here?" June cried in fake desperation.

"Not today mom!" Jack called back laughingly.

Jack chuckled to himself the whole way to his bathroom. He made quick work of the rest of his morning routine, turning the shower on to warm up, brushing his teeth, emptying his bladder and stripping the rest of his clothes off. Before he stepped into the shower he took a look at himself in the full length mirror on the wall. He saw the usual patchwork of scar tissue, that if he was being honest probably made up almost a solid one percent of his body weight, over extremely overdeveloped muscles for someone his size and age that would put the best soldiers and athletes on Earth to shame. He also caught sight of the familiar tattoo on his shoulder. A blood red shield with a Tanto knife and a Kay-Bar crossed over it, with a steel grey fractured skull missing it's jaw sitting on the top center of the symbol. 

_ Nope, never alone.  _ Jack thought to himself as he was reminded of his childhood friend. And he couldn't help but wonder if he would ever see her again, now that they had been separated by the world's largest ocean for four years. 

Wanting to get his mind on something less depressing, Jack thought ahead to the rest of the day as he stepped into the shower. Hopefully just another boring day of school and work. And if nothing crazy happens, then he and his mom would have plenty of bonding time. And if he keeps this up long enough, hopefully he'll learn how to be a normal sixteen year old. 


	2. Reality Screwing levels of good luck

As Jack made his way to school his mind was still plagued by thoughts of the past. Despite his best efforts, his trip down memory lane before he had stepped into the shower had stuck with him for the past few hours. He was so hopelessly distracted as he continued on the sidewalk, now walking up to one of the trees on the school's property, that he didn't even see or hear the imminent attacker until they were already on him. 

He felt another body impact with his from the side and whoever it was wrap their arms around his chest from behind. Instantly instincts and muscle memory kicked in, Jack tried to slam his head back but didn't hit anything. Next he tried to trip their feet out from under them. But before he could act, his attacker had tightened their grip on him and wrapped their legs around his waist. 

This greatly reduced his opinions but allowed Jack to make a couple of key observations. His adversary was clearly female. And she had a slim build but was impossibly heavy. With her new position she was forcing him to take all of her weight, almost forcing him to the ground and holding on too tight for him to throw her over his shoulder.

Thinking quickly, Jack turned his back to the tree and slammed both he and his passenger against it. Turning on her instantly after she let him go, he pressed his forearm against her sternum pinning her to the tree, while his other hand reached for the knife that wasn't on him at the moment. Then he froze. 

His attacker was indeed female, with a wardrobe seemingly designed to cause sensory overload. Dressed in knee high black boots with purple laces, a pair of black leggings with stripes of a different shade of purple, a pair of black jean short shorts with a yellow strap around them as a belt that had two little toys of make believe creatures and a zip up pack hanging off it and a dark blue sleeveless shirt with a picture of a green eight-bit video game zombie, over a salmon colored long sleeved tee shirt.

To top it all off, the girl's hair was a mess of pink highlights with bangs almost hanging over her eyes and a pair of pink bobs on the sides of her head that looked like she had taken a knife to her own pigtails. 

Once Jack's mind was able to process the all out attack of color, he was able to get a good look at her physical appearance. She was just as tall as him, of Asian descent, extremely muscular but also had a very well developed feminine figure and had a very large smile across her very familiar face. 

Slowly, Jack realized that the girl's height, strength and extremely well endowed female body wasn't simply because of nature being kind to her or a simple health and fitness routine but due to something a lot darker. And that her long sleeved shirt was most likely covering a similar pattern of scars to his…. 

And an identical tattoo. 

But as Jack put all of this together, the final nail in the coffin was when she opened her mouth and said in an unforgettable voice, something that only one person on Earth would ever say to him. "Hey Jackrabbit!"

Jack just stood there stunned for a long moment until his mind was able to function and came to the first most logical conclusion.  _ What the hell was in that orange juice this morning?  _ However, it took a little longer for him to get words out of his mouth. And even then, he just managed one. "Miko?"

Leaning against the tree with her arms crossed over her chest, Miko Nakadai replied with a bemused smile. "Uh, duh. How many badass Japanese girls do you know that call you 'Jackrabbit'? Or is the real question here, how long is the list of people that I want to kill while I'm here in America?" She finished with a raised eyebrow. 

"Miko! What are you doing here, in the U.S? In Nirvana? In Jasper? How did you find me?...why'd you try to jump me?!?!"

Laughing at her old friend's flabbergasted rambling, Miko said, "To answer you in order, I'm here as a Japanese foreign exchange student. I'm in Jasper Nirvana because the P.O.S brochure lied to me, music and entertainment capital of the world, my ass! I was actually hoping to look you up while I was here in the States but turns out all I had to do was just go to school and I saw you walking around. And last, I jumped you because you were thoroughly distracted by something and I thought it would be fun. And it was! Especially when you start rambling like this. Although, I'm a bit disappointed that your situational awareness has apparently been shot to hell."

Collecting himself a little, Jack tried to wrap his head around everything he had just learned. Taking a deep breath, he eventually gained enough coherents to think properly. "So, you just so happened to sign up as a foreign exchange student in the U.S. in the same state as the one I live in and in the exact same city?" He said with a little suspicion in his voice. 

Miko raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, while still leaning against the tree. "Woah, slow down dude. I know what you're thinking and I promise that there's no spooks involved. Promise! The only thing sketchy about this whole thing was the lying brochure. And if I don't know any better, I'd say it's starting to sound like you're not happy to see me." she finished with a teasing smile. 

Jack sighed as he pitched the bridge of his nose, realizing that he was no longer used to coping with Miko's sky high energy levels. "That's not it Miko, it's just that this is a lot to take in." The next thing he was aware of was a very sudden warm hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

"Good because I freaking missed you Jack." Miko said softly, with her head resting on his shoulder and her arms around his neck. 

Jack was stunned for a second before he relaxed into the hug and returned it. "I missed you too Miko."

Miko let out a happy sigh from her comfy spot holding her best friend and said, "And besides, is it really that hard to believe that I found you? Personally, I'd chalk it up to our R.S.L.G.L.".

Jack groaned at the old acronym but refused to break the hug, he replied, "Miko, do you think anything about our childhood can be qualified as  _ any level  _ of good luck, reality screwing or otherwise?".

Despite what he had just said, having his old childhood friend so close to him allowed his mind to drift away to all the horrors that they had been through together. All the close calls and near misses. All the times something should have gone horribly wrong and didn't. All the times it did and they still managed to get out alive. All the times they found each other and had the other's back, despite all odds. Just like now. And Milo's reply cut through his memories right when he didn't have any evidence to argue against it. "We're still here, aren't we?"

"Yeah,I guess we are." Was all he could say, finally accepting this new reality and smiling to himself as he held his best friend on Earth for the first time in four years. 

Unfortunately, the tender moment was interrupted by the sound of a car horn. Jack turned from the embrace to see a convertible sports car stopped in the road right next to them, driven by an orange haired young man and accompanied by his assortment of punks he called friends and his girlfriend for the week riding shotgun. "Hey Darby! That freak your new girlfriend?" The driver called with a sneer. 

Jack just rolled his eyes and replied in an exasperated tone, one that clearly said that he had been through this several times before. "Hello there Vince. Do you really have nothing better to do than harassing random people all day, every day or am I just lucky?"

Vince just let out a laugh, as he continued taunting the two on the sidewalk. "Ha, yah right! If you were lucky you wouldn't have to stoop to THAT to get any action!" He said while pointing at Miko.

Just before Jack was going to ignore his better judgment and finally beat the idiot within an inch of his life for insulting his oldest and only friend, he felt a hand on his shoulder as Miko stepped up beside him and threw an arm around both of his shoulders, while cocking her hip out to the side, with her other hand resting on said hip. "Why's that, because I'm smarter and stronger than wannabe Barbie over there? Or is it because I don't have every single S.T.D known to mankind yet?"

For a long moment, everyone sitting in the car just stared at Miko in dumb shock, until the young lady in the passenger seat, who clearly wasn't chosen by Vince for her brains, put the passes together and formed a response. "Did that creepy bitch insult me!?!?"

Finally snapped out of it by the indignation of his girlfriend's voice, Vince sputtered angrily before snapping at Miko. "Why you little, you better shut your mouth before I come there and-"

"And do what?" Miko asked, cutting him off with a raised eyebrow. She shifted her position to lean more casually against Jack, with her elbow resting on his shoulder. And in the corner of his eye, Jack caught her other hand slowly moving to the zipper of the pouch hanging from her belt. 

Miko continued in a confident tone, "Listen, Vince? Has anyone ever told you to 'get your head out of your ass'? Cause' I promise you, if you get out of that car, I'm going to make that a very, very real problem for you."

Vince just rolled his eyes with a sneering laugh and gestured to the rest of his passengers. "Ah! Yeah right, like you could take all of us!"

"Yeah, I could. And by the time I'm done, all of you guys could win first place at a Human Centipede lookalike contest. If you're still alive." Miko said, in a completely bored deadpan voice. 

All the teens in the car just stared in horror, as pale as they could possibly be and still be alive. Vince just sat there with his mouth opening and closing, trying to figure out a response but with no sound actually making it past his lips. And Jack finally decided to step in before the poor guy could get himself into more trouble. "Vice, I've known her since we were four. I can guarantee you she's not kidding. For once in your life, shut up and get lost, now."

The only thing anyone in ear shot could hear after that was tires screaming down the street as the car they were attached to was forced to accelerate painfully fast. That, and the driver of said car bravely shouting, "Couple of freaks!" from a safe distance as he made a hasty retreat. 

Jack couldn't help but laugh as he watched Vince and his friends pull away at top speed. "Jeez Miko, I think you actually managed to buy me a few days of peace. Nice work!"

Miko just shrugged it off and stood straight as they started walking again toward the school. "Eh, no problem. That was literally the most basic form of psychological warfare possible."

"Somehow I don't think they had high school bullies in mind when we were taught that stuff. And do I even want to know what's in that thing?" Jack asked, pointing to the pack on her belt. 

"Just something I couldn't leave home without." Miko answered in a cheerful tone. 

Already knowing what she was hiding in there, Jack shot back in fake disbelief, "And how exactly did you get it through airport security, twice? " he asked with a smirk. 

"Very carefully." Miko replied as if they were talking about the weather.

Jack couldn't help but tease her, "Shame on you Miko Nakadai. Exactly how many laws have you broken since the last time we saw each other?" Jack said trying to channel a little bit of his mom and struggling to keep a straight face. 

Miko raised her hand as she started counting off points. "Okay first, I haven't gotten into any _ serious _ trouble in the past four years. Second, big deal, it's not like all the shit we used to do was always on the level. Third, there was no way in hell I was going to leave it on another continent for three and a half years. And fourthly, you can't say anything because I know you take yours everywhere with you and it was your idea in the first place."

Jack blushed as they made their way toward the school parking lot. "Um, yeah Miko, about that…" he trailed off awkwardly and started rubbing the back of his neck self consciously.

Miko took one look at her friend's reaction and stopped in her tracks. "Oh. My. God. You lost it!?!?" She demanded in a horrified voice. 

  
  


"No, no. I just don't have it on me, I don't wanna get suspended." Jack quickly tried to defend himself. 

Miko actually rolled her eyes so hard, that Jake was surprised she didn't pull both of her eye muscles. "Oh cry me a river Darby. I kept my promise and my knife with me, even when it meant the risk of being arrested. And you're worried about being handed a piece of paper and getting a few days off from school."

"Hey it's not that simple, okay? You don't have a mom who can make your life absolutely miserable if you get suspended. And besides, I keep my knife with me the rest of the time, even at work." Jack instantly realized what he had said and went into a panic when Miko paused in her walk toward the school's main entrance. 

_ Crap crap crap crap crap! Please don't get mad. Please, please don't get mad.  _ He silently begged as he watched Miko's body language with a growing sense of dread. Fortunately, her reaction wasn't even close to what he had feared. "That's right! I knew I forgot something. How are things going with your mom? What's she like?" Miko started firing questions at him. 

_ Oh thank God.  _ Jack mentally sighed as he continued to walk into the school and listen to his best friend spew questions at him. "What does she do? Does she look like you? I can't wait to meet her. Where do you guys live? Can I come over to your house sometime?"

_ My God, it's like normal life made her more hyperactive somehow.  _ Jack thought to himself as he tried to keep up with the brogue of questions. "Jeez Miko slow down. We're doing good, she's a nurse in the emergency room, yes we look alike, I guess you could come over sometime but I'll have to check with mom first."

"Awesome!" Miko cheered as she diverted her path toward the front office. All the while, Jack followed her on autopilot with his mind spinning. Trying to picture how  _ that _ particular meeting would go. _ "Hey mom, this is Miko Nakadai. You remember hearing about her right? The person I used to kill people all the time with, among other things." Yeah, that's gonna go great… _

  
  


Out of this whole crazy conversation, there was one question that stuck out to him. "Why are you so excited about meeting my mom anyway?" Jack asked.

Miko replied by turning to him with a smile that made him extremely nervous. "Why else? To trade embarrassing stories about you ofcourse!"

"Miko please don't, I'm pretty sure your stories would traumatize her." Jack said, trying to block his friend's plans for humiliating him and protect his mother from a heart attack. 

Miko's eye brow shot up with a smirk. "Really is that it, or do you not want her to hear about your first purple heart… Forest!"

That had Jack blushing to the point of looking sunburned. "Okay, since when have you ever seen that movie? And you might want to hold back on the movie references, Bond girl."

"No fair! And you promised you'd stop with that." Miko moaned.

Jack chuckled, thinking he got the upper hand. "And I intended to keep my promise. I'm just reminding you that turnabout is fair play, double oh seven."

"Fine! No stories." Miko huffed with her arms crossed and strode a couple paces ahead of Jack but waited on him at the door of the office before going in. 

Walking into the office together, Miko shot back right before they got to the main desk. "But I'm still hoping to see some baby pictures." And then instantly struck up a conversation with the receptionist about her schedule before Jack could say anything, other than the single modified thought that was now bouncing around his head. 

_ Kill me now… _


	3. Allies and enemies

Walking down the hallway, Jack tried to keep his face in a blank expression as he looked down at the page he was holding, completely dumbfounded. Juggling by the sheer smugness radiating from Miko next to him, almost to the point of it being a tangible substance, he was doing a very poor job. "How, just, how?"

Miko stepped ahead, then turned and started walking backwards, facing her friend with a huge smile and replied in a singsong voice. "I already told ya Jack."

Jack continued to stare at Miko's class schedule in disbelief. "Miko, there's a difference between good luck and, and  _ this _ ! Are you absolutely sure that no one set this up? I mean, even our lockers are next to each other."

"Nope! Just the same old reality screwing levels of good luck we've always had!" Miko declared, then falling into step beside Jack again she continued. "What are ya, complaining about anyway? This is awesome!"

Jack rolled his eyes while handing back the page. "I'm not complaining Miko, it's just that when things seem too good to be true they usually are."

Miko replied with a raised brow and a smart aleck smile. "Dude, I hate to burst your bubble but I'm pretty sure that qualifies as complaining. And who knows, we haven't seen each other in years, maybe the R.S.L.G.L is on overdrive to make up for lost time?"

Jack leaned his head back and let out a heavily exaggerated sigh as he came to a stop at a T-section in the hallway. "Miko Nakadai, we've literally known each other for half of our lives and your logic still screws with my head." he said teasingly. 

"Yep! Don't you just love it!" Miko cheered joyfully. 

Jack just chuckled as he turned down a hallway lined with classrooms. "Don't ever change Miko."

"Hey, wait up! Shouldn't we go to our lockers first? I don't want to lug my book bag around all day." Miko paused and asked as she saw where her friend was going. 

Copying her earlier actions, Jack turned to face Miko and continued walking backwards. "Normally yes but our lockers are on the opposite end of the school and we'd never make it back to homeroom in time. Even  _ we  _ can't run that fast."

Miko let out a groan as she strode ahead to catch up, she then replied from beside Jack. "That sucks, why didn't you just get here sooner? Seems like an easy fix to me."

"Well usually, I don't have to plan on my long lost best friend randomly attacking me out of the blue, getting into a verbal sparring match with a car full of idiots or having to go by the front office before class." Jack said casualty as he turned to walk forward again.

"Kay, point." Miko said with a nod. "I meant to ask you about that, you usually put up with those guys? Why aren't they in the I.C.U already?"

Jack just shrugged, "Because they're not a threat to me. And I don't feel like dealing with the cops or explaining to my mom why she had to help pry a guy's head out of another guy's ass at work." Jack finished with a smirk, teasing Miko's threat from earlier.

"Hmm, kay so… what was different today? It looked to me like you were about ready to introduce Vince to some of our less than savoury methods of getting information out of people."

This had Jack blushing again and avoiding eye contact as he fumbled his answer. "Well um, you were there, and that crack he made, and what it implies…"

Miko grinned as she watched her friend trail off, before gasping in fake shock. "Jackson Darby, were you preparing to defend my honor? Oh  _ my hero _ !" Miko topped off her gag with her hand over her heart and an over the top swoon that had her almost completely leaning into Jack's side.

"Yah, like you need anyone to defend you." Jack said sarcastically while trying not to lose his balance. 

Fortunately for him, Miko straightened up and threw an arm around his shoulders yet again before continuing, "Nope! You're right, but it's the thought that counts. And it was a sweet thought, Jackrabbit." and then planting another kiss on his cheek. 

After walking along in their current state a while longer, Miko let out an annoyed huff. "Dang dude, how much farther to class?"

"I wasn't kidding about opposite sides of the school. All of the A.P classrooms and stuff are on the edge of the building. Which, how exactly did you manage that by the way?" Jack asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"What, you think that I pulled off that three mile long shot when we were eleven  _ without _ doing the math?" Miko asked in indignation with a raised eyebrow and a hint of sarcasm laced in her voice.

Jack smirked and did his best impersonation of the girl next to him, "Well personally, I'd chalked it up to our R.S.L-Ow!  _ Why?!... _ ". Unfortunately, Jack didn't take into account that Miko's current position, with her arm wrapped around his shoulder, was also the best place for her to smack him in the back of the head. 

"Oh yeah, like that hurt  _ you _ , ya big jerk." Miko teased with a smile and absolutely no heat in her voice whatsoever. 

"Jeez Miko, I think spending five minutes with you gives me more head trauma then all the other B.S we've been through put together." Jack playfully shot back, while rubbing his head where she had assaulted him.

Miko chuckled and shook her head as she began counting off points, while they were approaching a corner of the hall. "First, I highly doubt that. Second, leave the wise cracks to me, it's just not your thing dude. And to answer your question, you and I both know that the Doc probably would've had a stroke if we couldn't do grad school level math and physics before we were nine."

"Yeah, you're probably right on all accounts." Jack relented, much to Miko's amusement, as he untangled himself from her and strode ahead to open the door of their homeroom. 

"Figures, I could kick your ass in a minute flat and you've seen me kill more people than I can count but you're still Hell bent on getting the door for me every chance you get. Guess some things never change." Miko teased with an eye roll as Jack stepped aside and held the door open for her. 

"Just get inside before we're late, Miko." Jack shot back with a groan but couldn't hide the playful smile splitting his face. 

Stepping into the class and closing the door literally seconds before the bell rang, all eyes were instantly turned to the pair.

"Mr. Darby, I do believe that's the closest you've ever been to being late this year. I don't know what's worse, that Hell is apparently starting to freeze over or that I was a second away from losing fifty dollars to the principal." Said a man sitting at a desk in front of the classroom. He was in his late twenties to early thirties, dressed in a while button up shirt and khakis. With an amused smile on his face and a questioning look in his eyes as he observed the two students in front of him. 

"Sorry Mr. Smith, a lot of surprises this morning. Mainly because of her." Jack said jokingly, while hitching his thumb in Miko's direction. 

Miko just stuck her tongue out at Jack for that comment, much to the classe's and Mr. Smith's amusement. 

With a chuckle, Mr. Smith addressed Miko politely. "And who are you, young lady?"

Miko stepped forward with a smile and introduced herself. "Miko Nakadai. The new Japanese foreign exchange student."

Mr. Smith quickly glanced through his attendance sheet and said, "Ah yes, Ms. Nakadai, I've been expecting you. Well if you don't mind, I believe an introduction is in order. Would you please say hello to the class and tell us a little bit about yourself?"

Miko nodded and pivoted to face the rest of the classroom and saw Jack take a seat on the second row with an empty deck next to it that he sat his backpack on, saving it for her. Then, she stood straight and cleared her throat. "Um, hi. I'm Miko Nakadai. I'm from Tokyo Japan. I play electric guitar and the piano. I'm sixteen years old and I used to live in America when I was little, I guess I got kinda homesick. I have two purebred cats, Chi Chi and Ding Dong, they're my babies! I'm here in Jasper Nirvana because of the stupid lieing brochure and so far the only good thing is that my oldest bestfriend is in the same class as me." Miko concluded with a casual wave in Jack's direction. 

Jack mentally groaned at the collection of snickers and or "Aw"s from various students.  _ Good grief, I can literally feel the gossip mill firing up. Probably could have saved time by walking in with a sign around my neck saying, 'property of Miko Nakadai'. Although, in our case the truth is definitely stranger than fiction.  _ But the more Jack thought about it, he realized that, A. The conclusion most gossipers would reach wasn't exactly wrong from a certain point of view. And B, he should be grateful that Miko chose to use her self control and not add something like, "I'm also proficient with every single firearm ever made. I've killed more people than there are in this building put together. And I could break all of your spines with my little finger and one arm tied behind my back."

Before Jack could begin to totally wrap his mind around the full social implications of having his old friend in the same class as him, a knock was heard from the door just as Miko took her seat beside Jack.

Everyone in the classroom was surprised to see the principal step through the door along with a young boy who looked to be in fifth or sixth grade. The kid had brown spiky hair. Red-ish brown, square, thick framed glasses that appeared to shift color tones depending on how the light hits them. And he was wearing a beige, collared long sleeved shirt with an orange sweater vest over it. He was also carrying a red backpack over his shoulder that looked a bit larger than normal. 

Realizing that he had the room's undivided attention, the middle aged man in a shirt and tie cleared his throat politely. "I'm sorry to interrupt Mr. Smith, I'm afraid I kept one of your new students from reaching your class on time. I would like to introduce Rafael Esquivel."

After being motioned forward by the principal as he was speaking, Rafael stepped between the two men and looked around shyly before looking up at the teacher. "Um, just Raf's fine sir."

The principal gave a friendly chuckle as he patted the boy's shoulder before continuing. "As you can probably guess, Raf here is a very bright young man who has been promoted several grades. I trust that you and your class will make him feel welcome?"

"No problem at all Dr. Scott." Mr. Smith said with a smile, then glanced down at Raf. "And there's nothing to be nervous about Raf. You're actually the second new student we've gotten today, so you're in good company."

"Well I guess I'll leave you to it then. Unless, you have something else for me?" Dr. Scott asked with a raised eyebrow. 

Mr. Smith just laughed. "No sorry sir, today's not your day."

"Drat. Oh well, have a good day everyone." Dr. Scott said as he turned and walked out of the room. 

Smiling reassuringly at Raf, Mr. Smith said, "I know it might be a little awkward but do you think you could introduce yourself to the class and tell us a bit about yourself? I promise they don't bite.", he finished with a chuckle. 

Turning to face the rest of the class, Raf studdard a bit self consciously. "Uh, hey. My name is Rafael Jorge Gonzales Esquivel. Er um, just call me Raf. I'm twelve years old...and a quarter." Unfortunately this had most of the room's female population quietly giggling or "aw"ing at him, causing his cheeks to flush with embarrassment. Trying to save his dignity, he quickly added, "I'm also really good with computers." before jumping into the seat in front of Miko and making himself look busy with setting down his backpack then opening it to check on the laptop inside. 

Taking pity on the poor boy, Miko reached out and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and when Raf turned around, she put on a friendly, disarming smile. "Hey don't worry, between the two of us I think I have a monopoly on the gossip around here for a while. I'm Miko. And that's Jack." Miko introduced herself then hitched her thumb toward her friend next to her. 

Jack smiled and held his hand out to shake. "Jack Darby, nice to meet you."

"Thanks, for a minute there I thought I choked." Raf said with a relieved chuckle as he returned the handshake. 

Miko shrugged. "No problem. And in case you were wondering, I'm the other newbie. Jack's gonna help me out today and show me around. Why don't you show him your schedule and see if he can help ya?" Miko smirked, enjoying putting her friend on the spot. 

"Well, if it's not too much trouble…" Raf said while rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of himself. 

Jack just sighed with a good natured eye roll and a tired smile as he held out his hand for the paper. "Might as well, I have years worth of experience that says that arguments with Miko are a lost cause." 

Raf pulled a folded piece of paper from his pants pocket and gave it to Jack. After looking it over for a moment, Jack was stunned. "Oh wow, you pretty much have the same classes as Miko and I, except for computer lab next period and that's rite across the hall."

"Cool! If you just hang out by the lab, Jack and me can meet up with ya and you can just follow us around." Miko declared before Jack could say anything. 

"I guess that's settled then?" Jack asked with an eyebrow raised at Miko. 

"You don't have to if you don't want to. I don't wanna bug you guys all day." Raf said, trying to be polite. 

"Na, it's not like we have anything better to do. But I do wish that  _ someone _ would stop volunteering me for random stuff without asking me first." Jack said with a playful glare toward Miko.

"Jack Darby I will never stop volunteering you for random stuff, cause' it'll never stop being entertaining." Miko teased with a triumphant smirk. 

Jack rolled his eyes to the heavens. "You're easily amused Miko."

"Yeah, so? You still love me!" Miko replied with a shrug and a confident smile. 

Fortunately for Jack, the bell rang before he could reply with something that would get him into trouble later. As the three of them stood up with their bags, Miko turned to Raf. "Nice to meet ya Raf. See ya in a little bit, kay?"

"Definitely! See you guys after class!" Raf cheered with a bright smile and weaved as he turned to the door. Then jogged to his next class. 

Miko had a satisfied smile on her face, while Jack's was a bit smug. As they left the room and turned down the hallway to start the long walk to their lockers, Jack couldn't help thinking to himself.  _ I guess some things never change for her either. She'd always act differently when we ran into other kids. Ethier going out of her way to cheer them up or to protect them.  _

Unfortunately, Jack's reminiscing caused him to give a soft chuckle, which was heard by his friend. 

"What's so funny Jackrabbit?" Miko asked from beside him. 

"Just thinking that you were right earlier, some things never change. You still turn to mush when you meet someone even a year younger than you." Jack answered teasingly. 

This earned him a slug in the shoulder from his best friend. "What'd I say about the wise cracks?" Miko asked warningly. "And I do not turn to mush!"

"Ow! Jeez. Okay, you're right, you don't turn to mush, sorry." Jack quickly backed down as he rubbed his injured shoulder. "More like, mama bear…" Jack said under his breath. 

"Watch it Darby." Miko said in a deadpan and kept walking. 

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_ **

As the bell rang, the two best friends were once again walking down the hallway. On their way to meet up with Raf outside the computer lab. Finally having had a chance to drop their extra supplies at their lockers, they were strolling at a leisurely pace when Miko's stomach growled. 

"Dang dude, how long till lunchtime? My host parents cooked a good breakfast but it didn't come close to filling me up." Miko complained with a hand over her stomach. 

"I know, I had to sort that out with my mom pretty quick. It's another hour and a half until lunch but there's a vending machine halfway between here and the computer lab." Jack answered from beside her. 

"Awesome! Let's pick up the peace so we can meet Raf on time." Miko replied as she began to quick-march down the hall.

Picking up his stride and catching up, Jack asked her a question that's been on his mind all morning. "Why do I get the feeling that you've decided that we're going to be Raf's caretakers for the rest of high school?"

Miko rolled her eyes as she replied. "You're exaggerating, it's not like we're his back up parents or anything. We'll just be his friends and make sure he doesn't get trampled or something."

Jack just sighed and decided to go along with it, just to avoid a useless argument. "Whatever you say, Miko. At least we shouldn't have to fight anyone."

As they turned the corner into a section of the hall that deadened into a pair of bathrooms with a vending machine against the wall, the very next thought in Jack's mind was,  _ me and my big mouth… _

The two teens quickly took in the scene before them of a terrified Raf, backed into a corner by a living mountain and clutching some quarters in a fist against his chest. 

Jack didn't even have time to identify the culprit before Miko let out a roar from next to him. " **OH** **_HELL_ ** **NO!** "

Once the wouldbe bully turned to face Miko, Jack recognized him as one of the thugs that was with Vince in the car on the way to school. Fred. A six foot something, heavyset man who had been held back a couple of years, with scruffy looking patches of facial hair making up his 'beard'. 

"Okay, listen up jackass. You have exactly three seconds to back off before I put you in the ground!" Miko demanded as she marched up to Fred, while making a hand gesture behind her back that Jack recognized as  _ guard _ .

Before he could even think about it Jack turned his back to the wall, keeping an eye out for teachers and watching the altercation between Fred and Miko.

"Relax, new girl, the kid and I were just chatting about some of the rules around here. I was explaining that there's a fee for using this vending machine." Fred said with a cocky smile.

"Wow buddy, I knew you were dumb when I saw you in the car with Vince, but I didn't know anybody was actually  _ that  _ stupid. Since it's obvious no one ever told you this before, that's how vending machines work. So, why don't you just leave my friend alone and mind your own damn business?" Miko responded with so much sarcasm flowing from her lips, that it was a miracle that Fred hadn't physically been drowned yet. 

But unfortunately, Fred's grin just got bigger. And something unsettling entered his gaze. "Sorry little feisty one, but these bathrooms and vending machine are mine. If the kid wants to use em' then he owes me twenty five cents. But if it means that much to ya, I'm sure we could work out a deal on your little friend's account." Fred made no attempt to hide his roaming eyes while he spoke.

Jack cringed while keeping an eye out for teachers.  _ And now, Fred, is dead.  _

Miko let out a low chuckle. "Wow okay dude, now you have exactly two seconds to get lost before I bust up your gut, face and balls, in that specific order. One, one thousand..."

"I'd like to see ya try. Sounds like fun to me babe." Fred replied with a smirk. 

"Two, one thousand…" Miko said. 

Jack did one last sweep of the hall before calling, "You're clear Miko." and turning to go check on Raf.

Fred opened his mouth again for another pass at Miko. And that's exactly what she was waiting for before she drove her fist into his midsection. Being careful not to break bone, or cause any other internal damage, she still put enough power into the blow to drive all of the air from his lungs and probably leave a muscle deep bruise there for about a month. 

When Jack made it over to Raf, the young boy appeared fine and was watching the spectacle before him in stunned silence, while Jack turned back to see Fred falling to his knees. 

Fred sat there on his knees, with both hands wrapped around his stomach and gasping, desperately trying to fill his lungs with air again, Miko stepped to the side so that she was right next to him. Then she reached out, grabbed him by the back of the neck with one hand and slammed his face forward into the floor. 

Jack couldn't stop himself from cringing at the wet crunch and muted cry of pain as the bigger man's nose was broken, and silently begged his friend,  _ Easy Miko, no need to blow our cover on this moron… _

However, Jack's mind already started coming up with possible explanations he could give the authorities for how a 'normal' sixteen year old girl could possibly dismember and disembowel a six foot tall, three hundred pound, twenty year old man with her bare hands. And all the pleading in the world wasn't going to stop Miko from following through on her threat verbatim.

With her enemy prostrate on the floor, Miko easily stepped up behind him and firmly planted her boot between Fred's legs and was rewarded with a very satisfying, honest to God, Wilhelm scream.

Finally, the soon-to-be high school dropout's survival Instincts kicked in. He struggled to his feet and quickly limped off down the hallway, cradling his gut and broken nose with each hand and whimpering like a frightened puppy.

"Well, that went well." Miko said to herself, satisfied. Then she turned to see Raf staring at her, wide-eyed and Jack slowly shaking his head with a hand over his eyes."What?" Miko asked, not understanding their reaction. 

"Miko, you know that that's going to bite us in the ass later, right?" Jack responded first. 

"Wow…" Was all that a mystified Raf could say. 

  
  



	4. Oddities and cause & effect

As the trio made their way into the lunch room later that day, Raf's mind was spinning from all the new information. Not only the typical things associated with being in a new environment or taking high school level classes, but mainly about his new friends. He wasn't trying to be suspicious, and they had been nothing but kind to him, but his hyper analytical mind couldn't help but form a list of things about them that didn't make sense.

First was Miko being a foreign exchange student, and then Jack saying that he had known her for years. They had explained that Miko used to live in America, but that was just the first oddity. Then, the incident at the vending machine, he didn't want to sound mean but it didn't seem normal for a sixteen year old girl like Miko to be able to do what she did to that bully. And then there was the way Jack and Miko had worked together daring the whole thing, as if they had done stuff like that a dozen times before. 

And in history class last period, the teacher had been talking about the battle of Thermopylae and the two teens had zoned out. Like they weren't even in class, but in some faraway place. He would have asked, but he didn't want to be nosy.

"Raf, you okay?" Jack asked from just behind Raf, bringing the boy out of his thoughts. 

"Yeah, just trying to remember all that stuff from history. That's never been one of my best subjects." Raf said as he came back to reality and adjusted his computer bag on his back. Given what he had already seen of this school, he didn't trust leaving it in a locker. 

Walking next to Jack, Miko opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the older boy. "Don't worry, we'll help you catch up if you're having trouble." Jack said with a smile as he patted the boy's shoulder. Then, cast a side glance at Miko and saw her give him a small smile. 

The three of them moved through the line of students and found a table for themselves at the far side of the cafeteria. After they had sat down, Jack finally said, "You know we're going to get called up to the principal's office, right? Is there any way that we can not get in trouble with this situation?" Jack asked as he started eating. 

Miko was chewing her food as she thought to herself. Then swallowed before saying, "There was a bathroom right there, we could say that he already looked beaten up. Maybe he was taking a dump in a stall, stood to pull his pants up, slipped on the wet floor and broke his nose on the door and busted his balls on part of the toilet?" she pitched the story to Jack. 

Raf was about to say something about not lying and getting into more trouble but then stopped. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off with the two. It was like getting into trouble and or lying to the principal didn't even faze them. There was no stress or urgency in their voices. They were having a completely calm and logical conversation about using subterfuge to avoid any consequences while they were eating. If Raf didn't know any better, he'd think they were making plans for the weekend or talking about chess moves. And there was more going on here, in their body language and just under the surface. For now, the boy's instincts had convinced him to remain quiet and simply watch and listen. 

Jack nodded at Miko's plan. "That would work, except for the cameras. But given Fred's reputation, we might get lucky and they'll decide not to look into this too much."

At the mention of cameras, Raf stopped eating and bent over to unzip his computer, unnoticed by the two teens as they continued their conversation. 

"Alright in that case, I'll go ahead and mention the 'deal' that creep tried to make with me. If we can't get out of this clean, then at least we can bury that bastard as deep as possible." Miko said. 

Jack nodded as he finished his food. Eating quickly as usual, same as Miko. And no sooner had they finished than the intercom came on. "Jackson Darby and Miko Nakadai, please report to the principal's office. Jackson Darby and Miko Nakadai, please report to the principal's office."

The two waited a moment for the usual laughs and jeers to die down before standing. "Show time!" Miko cheerfully declared before turning to the door. 

Jack rolled his eyes yet again as he stepped ahead to open the door for Miko. "Can you at least _try_ not to act like you're enjoying this? If you walk into the office like this, they're going to know something's up with you."

"Can't help it! No matter how this goes, we get to take down an ass hole." Miko replied as she strode through the door and into the hallway. Neither of the two teens, or anyone else in the cafeteria noticed Raf typing away at his computer. 

"Still, I would prefer not to get into trouble, and with those cameras that seems unlikely." Jack said once he caught up with Miko in the hallway. 

Miko actually threw her head back and laughed. "You're kidding me, right? Compared to what we've had to deal with before this will be a piece of cake. I seriously doubt that they'll have a bunch of sharp objects and car batteries waiting for us when we get in there. And I'm still counting on the R.S.L.G.L to take care of the cameras somehow."

"Easy for you to say," Jack shot back, "you don't have to listen to the lecture that I'm gonna get from my mom when I get home."

"Dude, just tell her what happened to Raf. That should be more than enough to get you off the hook." Miko said confidently.

"How would you know? You've never met my mom." Jack asked with a bit of humor in his voice. Although, he was curious to see what his friend was basing her opinion on.

"Nope, but I know how you would react to this situation. And given that she raised you before we met and passed on her genetics to make you, I already have a pretty good idea of what she's like" 

Jack was puzzled at the odd compliment, so he chose to change tracks. "You know how I would react to this situation? So, you've pictured me with a kid and said kid getting into trouble in high school?" Jack asked skeptically. 

"Well if you have any kids then half their D.N.A came from me. So, A. yes, they will be getting into plenty of trouble. And B. If you start turning into a carppy dad I'll just beat some sense into ya." Miko replied as if they were talking about the simplest thing on Earth. 

Jack nearly fell over his own feet. "Miko! Where did _that_ idea come from?!?!" Jack asked in disbelief. 

Miko just shrugged casually. "Simple, if either of us tried to sleep with a normal human, it probably wouldn't end well. It wouldn't be as bad as Superman and Lois Lane, but still really bad. That, and I don't like sharing." Miko finished with a smirk at Jack that let him know _exactly_ what she was thinking. 

Luckily, right then is when they came into view of the front office, ending the conversation. "Here we go." Jack said quietly.

That small cue from her friend was all it took for all emotion to instantly vanish from Miko's face. She straightened her back and kept all other muscles relaxed as she and Jack walked side by side, nearly in perfect sink into the office. 

When they came in, the woman at the desk simply pointed down a small hallway toward the principal's office. Turning the corner, the two teens saw Fred sitting on a small couch outside the door. He had two bloody pieces of tissue shoved up both nostrils and it was clear that the school nurse had already set the bone correctly. When the older man saw Miko, he was obviously torn between wanting to sneer at her and wanting to avoid eye contact at all costs.

Keeping their eyes set straight ahead, Jack and Miko stepped up to the door and Jack gave three clear but polite knocks on the door. "Come in.", they heard on the other side. 

Opening the door, they found Dr. Scott sitting at his desk waiting for them.

After waiting for them to step in and close the door behind them, the principal motioned to the two chairs in front of him before speaking. "I suppose you two saw the young man beat up on the couch? He came in here with the strangest story about how he was trying to use the vending machine. And then, the two of you came out of nowhere and Ms. Nakadai single-handedly beat him within an inch of his life for no reason whatsoever. And all the while, Mr. Darby was keeping watch. Now, I don't normally handle situations this way but given the history of all parties involved, or lack thereof in Ms. Nakadai's case, I would like to hear the story from both of you." The man said, nodding at the teens now sitting in front of him. 

Jack leaned forward and cleared his throat. "Well sir, after you dropped Raf off in homeroom this morning, Miko and I introduced ourselves to him. And then, Miko had the idea that since I was already showing her around, maybe I could take a look at Raf's schedule and give him some directions. After looking at his classes, we realized that we all had the same schedule except first period. We decided to meet up with Raf outside of the computer lab and just stick together the rest of the day. When we were on our way to meet him, we decided to go by the vending machine and when we got there, we saw Fred had Raf cornered against the wall." Jack paused, giving the principal time to process the information. 

The man rested his elbows on the deck with his hands neatly clapped in front of his face. And then after a few moments of thinking over everything he knew about the situation, said. "Okay, and how did you react when you saw that?"

Miko perked up and said. "I started yelling at him to back off and I got in his face a bit."

"But you don't physically touch him?" Dr.Scott followed up.

Jack had to fight himself to keep from smiling as Miko made a very slight noise with her mouth closed and a very small bob of the head. The principal took it as a nervous confirmation, but in reality Miko hadn't confirmed or denied anything. And if confronted about it later, she could easily say that the actions were involuntary. Jack had to admit to himself that Miko was right. Compared to what they were prepared for, this was a joke. The only thing that the principal had in his favor was the video. 

"And then, the creep tried to get me to have sex with him in exchange for leaving Raf alone!" Miko continued. 

_That_ had Dr. Scott's attention. The man sat back in his seat, stunned. "I'm, I'm so sorry Miko. And I hate to ask this, but are you absolutely sure that you don't miss-interpret what was said?"

"His exact words were, 'if it means that much to ya, I'm sure we could work out a deal on your little friend's account.' Sir." Jack said. 

"Yeah! And he was undressing me with his eyes the entire time!" Miko confirmed, looking thoroughly pisstd off with her arms crossed over her chest. 

Dr. Scott put a hand over his face and started rubbing his eyes. Then, he picked up the phone on his desk and punched in five numbers. "Hey, officer Kelly? If you step outside your office, sitting on the couch outside is Fredrick-, yes _that Frederick_. Could you please keep him in your office for a bit? Okay thanks, I'll be in there in a little while. Alright thanks." After hanging up, he looked at the teens and sighed. "I apologize for the interruption. Please continue."

Jack picked up the story with a shrug. "Nothing much else happened after that. I came up and told him to leave Raf and Miko alone. He had toilet paper shoved up his nose for some reason, and started looking between Miko and I, then he stomped off down the hallway."

"So his nose was already broken?" Dr.Scott asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Er, yes sir. Sorry, it slipped my mind. I was just mad about the perv trying to threaten Raf to get into my pants. I can't decide what's worse, him trying to bribe me for sex or that he apparently thinks that sex with me is worth twenty five cents!" Miko quickly added, with an indignant shout. Fortunately, Miko's last comment had the intended effect of distracting the administrator from the slight inconsistency. 

Dr.scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose, and back out of his mouth, with a look on his face that clearly said, _I do NOT get paid enough for this shit._ Coming to a decision, he stood from the chair behind his desk and addressed the two teens. "Okay, I think I've got a good idea of what happened. But if you two would have a seat outside in case I have any feather questions, I would greatly appreciate it."

Nodding, Jack and Miko both stood and walked out of the office. After closing the door behind them, they sat down on the now empty couch and looked down the hallway to the closed door of the resource officer's room. Even though the room was supposed to be soundproofed, thanks to their exceptionally above-average hearing, they had no trouble picking up the profanity Fred was muttering on the other side of the door.

Miko chuckled as she leaned back against the couch and stretched her arms over her head. "Well that went well, he didn't even look at the recording. But I can't believe I forgot to say something about that jackass breaking his nose." Miko pouted to herself as she folded her arms back over her chest. 

"Not yet at least. And that was probably karma for the crack about my situational awareness this morning." Jack said casualty as he leaned his head back on the couch with his eyes closed. "If it hadn't been such a freaking nightmare, I probably would have made a joke about interrogation training. Well that, and I know you probably still have issues with spiders." Jack smirked to himself as he felt Miko glaring a hole through his skull from beside him. 

Whatever words Miko was going to rebuke him with were cut off by the school's intercom. "Rafael Esquivel, please report to the principal's office. Rafael Esquivel, please report to the principal's office."

Make you instantly had an aggravated look on her face. "Crap! We forget about Raf. What do you think he'll say?"

Jack didn't move from his position leaning back against the couch and replied with his eyes still closed. "I didn't think he would intentionally tell on us. But it'll be interesting to see if Dr.scott finds a hole in his story." Jack said calmly. 

Miko huffed as she scowled at him with her arms still crossed. "Between this, me dropping the ball with the principal and me getting the drop on you this morning, I'm starting to seriously worry about our skills going down the toilet."

Jack sat up and looked at her, before shrugging. "What do you expect? I don't know about you, but I haven't used any of _those particular skills_ in nearly four years. Except for that idiot that tried to break into my house when I was thirteen."

"Ha! You'll have to tell me that story sometime, but the point still stands. We need some action!" Miko decided firmly, with a nod to her friend.

Jack burst out laughing at that statement. "Miko, I know you keep talking about our R.S.L.G.L, but if you actually manage to find anything close to the kind of action you're talking about in Jasper freaking Nevada, then you and I seriously need to drop everything and head to Los Vegas. Cus' based on what I've seen of this place over the years, that's just not going to happen."

Miko stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. "Saids you! There has to be _something_ interesting around here." Miko almost pleaded.

Jack shook his head with the bemused smile on his face. "Hate to tell you Miko, but I'm ninety nine percent sure that the reason my mom moved us out here was because there is nothing that even remotely fits your definition of interesting for miles and miles."

Just then, Raf turned the corner with his backpack in tow. The two teens stopped their conversation and saw that the younger boy looked a bit nervous. They did their best to give him reassuring smiles, with Miko giving him two thumbs up. 

Raf gave a hesitant smile and nodded to the pair. Then, he stepped up to the door and knocked. After being given permission, he opened the door, walked into the office and closed the door behind him. 

Miko leaned her head back and let out a long sigh. "So….nothing to do here at all. Man, I had my issues with Tokyo but at least there I could find _something_ entertaining." Miko complained, picking up their conversation. 

Realizing that the situation was now completely out of their hands, Jack decided to skip eavesdropping on what was happening in the "soundproof" office and continue bantering with his long lost best friend. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that."

"About what?" Miko replied as she turned to Jack with a raised eyebrow. 

Jack pretended to him haw around. And slightly avoided eye contact, trying to look as disinterested as possible. "Oh well, just with you being on your own in Tokyo…. I've spent the last four years expecting to wake up one day and see on the news that the entire island of Japan had gone the way of Atlantis."

And as per usual, Jack was too slow to stop Miko from taking out physical retribution. This time, in the form of a slug on the shoulder. "Ow! Damn it Miko! Is this what the next three and a half years of my life is going to be like?", Jack complained as he rubbed his now sore arm.

Miko chuckled and opened her mouth to reply but was cut off as the two of them picked up the aggravated exclamation from Dr.Scott inside the office. 

Both teens turned to face the door of the office as they tuned in to the conversation going on inside. "I swear, every time they send someone out to fix this stupid thing, the system just gets _more_ bugs in it. Oh well, I think I've seen enough to validate what you've said so far Rafael. So what happened when you tried to use the vending machine?", the principal continued after apparently giving up on the school's security system.

Still looking at the door, Jack could once again feel the smugness and contentment pouring off Miko from next to him, without even looking at her. _There will be absolutely no living with her after this whatsoever…_ Jack thought to himself as he continued listening through the "soundproof" door. 

"Well sir, this big guy came out of the bathroom with toilet paper shoved up his nose. And then he started telling me that this was his vending machine and I owed him money for using it. Then when I told him I didn't have enough, he backed me into the wall and started going on about how he broke his nose and, um… busted his balls on the toilet and that he was in no mood to play with me." Raf answered the administrator's question.

Stunned, Jack looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that Miko was thinking the exact same thing. _GO RAF!!!!_

Continuing, Raf said, "And then, Miko and Jack came around the corner and started yelling at him to leave me alone.".

"And what was Mr.Darby doing at this time?" Dr.Scott asked. 

"I didn't really remember. Honey sir, I was just happy that someone showed up. Jack came over to check on me at some point, while Miko was still dealing with the big guy. And the bully said something strange to Miko, something about a deal? And he was looking at her really wired, I don't think I understood what they were talking about…" Raf trailed off awkwardly. 

Outside the door, Jack and Miko heard the principal sigh, "That's not… something you need to worry about Rafael. Now, did you at any point see Jack or Miko make physical contact with the bully?"

There was a moment of silence after that. So, the teens outside assumed that Raf was either shaking or nodding his head.

"Are you sure?" Dr.Scott asked a moment later, confirming their theory, fallowed by another pause.

"Okay then, I think I have all the information I need. Thank you for answering my questions Rafael."

The two best friends heard the sound of a chair creaking before the door opened and Dr.scott lead the way out. After Raf had rejoined his friends, the principal took a moment to regard the trio before saying anything. "Well, as far as I am concerned you kids can return to class. I'll do my best to make sure that you don't have to deal with Fredrik again. And I'm sorry that you two had a run in like this on your first day."

However, Jack and Miko weren't paying attention to anything that Dr.Scott said after that. Given the way the administrator was taking that intended to have Fred expelled and or arrested. And the two teens came to exact same conclusion at the exact same time. _Not good._

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_ **

The three friends made their way down the hallway as the final bell rang. Despite the large crowd of students moving towards the school's main entrance, the trio managed to stay together as they headed toward the exit. As they came up to a restroom, Raf paused, causing the two teens to do the same.

"Hey sorry guys, I gotta go before I head out. I've kinda got a long walk home. Guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Raf asked, looking at his friends. Thinking they were all about to part ways for the day. 

Miko scoffed and waved the question off. "Na. We'll wait up for ya."

When the younger boy looked to Jack, he just shrugged. "I usually wait for the crowd to thin out anyway."

"Um, well okay." Raf answered as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "In that case, would you mind holding this for me?" He asked as he handed his backpack over to Jack. 

Jack smiled as he accepted the bag. "No problem. We'll be right out here when you're done."

With that, Raf stepped into the bathroom. Then Jack and Miko turned and walked to the other side of the hall. As they leaned against the wall casually, not even a minute passed before Miko said, "Three o'clock.".

"Yeah, I see him." Jack replied, as he watched Vince coming down the hallway towards the same bathroom that Raf was using.

Waiting until Vice was about to pivot into the restroom, Miko raised her voice to be heard over the crowd. "Keep walking Carrot Top!"

Turning to the pair behind him, Vice marched up to Miko and asked angrily, "You talking to me, freak?"

Completely unfazed, Miko crossed her arms over her chest with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face as she continued to lean against the wall and replied with a sarcastic smile in her voice. "Oh wow! You actually figured it out. Good job!"

_And...here we go again._ Jack thought to himself with a chuckle as he continued to watch the scene play out in front of him. 

  
  


"Listen bitch, I gotta take a piss and you can't tell me what to do!" Vice nearly yelled in Miko's face.

Calmly shrugging, Miko replied, "A. I highly doubt that, considering that you've been following us for the past fifteen minutes, even when we took a detour to the vending machine and you waited until Raf was alone to actually do anything. B. I honestly don't give a shit, use a gatorade bottle. And C. If you go in there, you're going to end up in a hundred times worse shape than your pal Fred.".

"I didn't have a gatorade bottle, I'm going in there whether you like it or not and there's nothing you can do about it." Vince answered through gritted teeth. 

"In that case, why didn't you use one of those mini water bottles? They'll be the _perfect size_ for you anyway." Miko suggested, her eyes laughing at him the entire time. And this was only made worse by the real laughs that came from students around them who had started paying attention to the altercation.

Finally, Vince lost his temper and as quick as Lightning, he hauled off and punched Miko in the face. Or at least, he would have if she hadn't simply tilted her head out of the way and let his fist connect with the brick wall behind her.

As much fun as Jack was having watching Vince Yelp and start cursing up a storm while cradling his now injured hand, he couldn't help but worry about the spectators. He was almost certain that the reaction time that Miko had just displayed was above normal for the average human. 

As Vince stormed off fuming, Miko waited a few moments for everyone to go back to what they were doing, before asking Jack, "You saw that coming too, right?"

"Yeah. It's not exactly rocket science. The three of us get called to the principal's office and not even an hour later Vince's go to muscle is expelled. And Raf is the easiest Target out of the three of us, even with Vince not knowing anything about you or me." Jack said as he scanned the passing students with his eyes, making sure nobody was paying attention to them. 

"What do we do about it?" Miko asked, a hint of concern in her voice. 

Jack replied with a shrug. "Keep protecting Raf, I guess."

"Kay, so… Rules of Engagement?" Miko asked in return. 

Jack paused and thought for a moment. "On school grounds, no blood or broken bones. Off school grounds, try to avoid killing if you can help it. Beyond that, I'm going to have to check and see what the state of Nevada law says about self defense. I'll start tomorrow. I gotta work tonight."

Miko instantly took interest. "Oh really, where do you work?"

Still thinking about how to deal with Vince and his friends, Jack replied without thinking. "The K.O burger in town."

Miko burst out laughing. "Oh man, that's rich! I have to stop by sometime when you're working."

Jack closed his eyes and let his head thump back against the wall. _There goes the rest of my dignity and self respect._

Thankfully Raf exited the restroom and saved Jack from whatever else Miko was going to say. "Here's your backpack Raf." Jack said, quickly handing over the said piece of luggage.

"Thanks Jack! Um, I heard a lot of yelling out here, What'd I miss?" Raf asked as he shrugged the bag back over his shoulders. 

Miko smiled and waved her hand dismissively. "Not much, just Vince being a di-er um,dummy." Miko quickly corrected herself, much to Jack's amusement as the trio started walking again. 

After they made their way through the main door and into the parking lot, Miko asked, "Hey Raf, this might sound a bit awkward but, you mind if I walk you home? It's just, me and Jack are pretty sure that Vince and his goons are gunning for us now, after us getting called into the principal's office. And I think we should stick together."

Raf stuttered a bit awkwardly. "Well I was just gonna find somewhere to race my R.C car for a while before going home."

Miko smiled kindly at the younger boy. "No problem, I can sit and draw while you play. And we can chat and stuff."

"Yeah sure." Raf answered, trying not to act like he was _too_ excited to have his new friends spend time with him outside of school. 

Jack chuckled as he watched two of them. And when Raf was turned away from him he made a hand signal to Miko saying, "Momma bear." to which, Miko just stuck her tongue out at him. 

After a moment, Jack said to both of them, "Sorry guys but I got to go. But Miko's right about sticking together, why don't we swap phone numbers before we split up?".

Miko nodded, "Good idea, it's not like those burgers will fry themselves.", she said with a smirk.

Jack groaned while digging his phone from his pocket. "You're not going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Nope!" Was Miko's simple answer. 

After they all had exchanged numbers, the three friends said their goodbyes and parted ways.

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_ **

After some looking around, the two found a dry drainage canal that was perfect for Raf to play with his R.C car. Once they had found a good spot, true to her word Miko started drawing with a set of colored pencils she had, while Raf's R.C car zipped back and forth.

They had talked about the usual things, Hobbies, favorite foods, pets and family. Although Miko was mostly silent on that last one. At some point, Miko got a text from Jack with a picture of his knife, providing that he didn't lose it. And now Raf and Miko sat quietly side by side, each engaged in their own activity.

Despite the calm he was showing on the outside, Raf's mind was again spinning. Unknown to his two friends, he had heard a great deal of what they had said throughout the day. And that long list of oddities was getting very hard to ignore. It wasn't to the point where he didn't trust them, but he did want some answers. The only problem was he felt too awkward to bring anything up. He hadn't even known Jack or Miko for a full day yet and he didn't want to alienate his only friends by integrating them with a bunch of personal questions. Maybe… something personal that would fall under normal conversation but, not quite hit the nail on the head?

"Hey Miko, can I ask you something?" Raf asked, glancing at the girl beside him as he continued playing with his car. 

Miko replied without pausing her work on her drawing. "Yeah, shoot."

Raf hesitated, not sure if he was about to cross a line. "Are you and Jack, uh, um, a couple?"

Miko chuckled as she sat her pencil down and turned to face her friend, likewise the younger boy set his remote down in his lap and turned towards her. "I was wondering when someone would ask that. Good job Raf! And the answer is… complicated. No, we're not dating like what you're probably thinking. But we have sle-um… done romantic stuff before. Let me try to explain it like this… teens and adults both go out on dates. Teens date for a lot of reasons, most of which don't matter in the long run. But most of the time when adults date, it's to get to know someone who you like better. And most of the time, if two adults have been dating long enough they'd probably get married at some point. You following me so far?"

Raf nodded. "Yeah I think so. I'm just wondering what all the other reasons are that you mentioned before."

"Raf…" Miko said with a deadpan stare. "You're my friend. I don't mind having deep, personal conversations with you. But that's something you need to talk to your parents about, I draw the line at having _that_ conversation with you. Moving on, Jack and I are more like adults in that sense. With one major difference, we've known each other since we were four years old. We don't need to get to know each other better cause we already know everything. We're not all over each other cause we don't have anything to prove and we know where we stand. I don't know if I'll get married but if I do, Jack is the only person I would ever consider. And if you asked Jack, he would say the same thing about me. Eventually, he's a lot more awkward about it than I am. But I know all the information is there, he just hasn't finished processing it yet."

Raf tilted his head to the side, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Miko took a deep breath in and let out a long huff. "I can't explain everything, Raf but…. Jack and I had… an extremely traumatic childhood. And because of that, I'm literally the only person Jack could get married to and vice versa. And that's all I'm going to tell you cause A. It's _really_ personal. And B. I don't want your family coming after me when you start having nightmares."

"Oh um, sorry I brought it up." Raf said, discouraged.

Miko just Shrugged with a smile. "Don't be, I'm not.", she said in a soft voice. 

Raf had just enough time to return the smile before his cell phone rang. Digging it out of his pocket, opening it and bringing it to his ear, he answered. "Hello? Hi Momma!.... just a few more minutes, please?... Okay, thank you!..."

While her friend was talking to his mom, Miko cocked her head to the side as her sharp ears picked up the sound of a motorcycle heading towards them, _fast..._


	5. Contact

Jack groaned as he trudged out the door of K.O Burger. Another four hours of his life wasted on a mundane job, dealing with ass hole customers who routinely try and fail to swipe their food from the driver-through without paying and a cheapskate boss who refuses to pay him anything above minimum wage. Even though Jack's pretty sure he's worked at least a thousand dollars worth of overtime by now. Unfortunately, maintaining a low profile means not filing any kind of official Complaint.

Jack paused outside the door as his phone rang and reached into his back pocket before flipping it open. "Hey mom. Yah I just got off." he said as he walked into the parking lot. "No I'm not going to the dance. Experience suggests I should never cut a rug, unless I'm installing carpet. But I did make a couple of friends today.". His mom's excited exclamation caused Jack to flinch away from the phone and that's when he noticed the bike.

A small blue motorcycle with pink highlights, that looked like it came from Japan, was sitting in the middle of the parking lot with no one else around. And a few of the sun's rays reflected off the flawless paint job.

Jack's multitasking skills came in handy as he evaluated the situation and carried on a conversation with his mother about his day at school, being careful of what was said over a cell phone. There was no one else in the parking lot of the restaurant. Jack was absolutely certain he was the last one out of the building. There was more than enough parking space at the gas station next door, if that's indeed where the mysterious bike's owner was. 

"Hey mom? I gotta go, I need to check something before I head home. Love you too, bye.". Putting the phone back in his pocket, Jack stood and looked at the bike for a moment, thinking about how he should handle this situation and making sure that he wasn't looking at the world's most expensive I.E.D. 

_Okay so, there is an abandoned motorcycle sitting in an empty parking lot of a closed fast food restaurant. I'm pretty sure it's not a bomb or a booby trap. Still, this is too odd. Especially with no one in sight, that means either someone's hiding or they left a very expensive motorcycle in the middle of nowhere. The first seems more likely, which means they're probably up to no good. But I don't want to start a violent confrontation if some poor guy is just lost. I need to expose them and give myself enough time to size them up. My best bet's messing with the beautiful, obviously expensive bike and see who comes running._

With this in mind, Jack walked up to the out of place vehicle and raised his voice, gesturing with his hands as he intentionally gushed over the motorcycle. “Hello beautiful! Where have you been all of my life?”.

Stepping alongside the bike, he ran his hand over the seat. "Nice…", scanning his peripheral Jack saw that he was still alone. _Nothing yet, let's see what happens when I take it up a notch._

Gripping both of the handles, Jack carefully threw his leg over the vehicle and placed himself on the seat. "It may take a few K.O paychecks, but I am going to own a ride like you someday.". _Thare. If that doesn't get a reaction, nothing will._ Jack thought to himself before he was interrupted by the sound of giggling. "Are you talking to your _motorcycle_ , Jack?"

Jack whipped his head around to see Sierra and one of her friends standing on the sidewalk right in front of him. _Damn it! Miko's right, my situational awareness is going down the toilet._

Jack put on a friendly smile and gave a small wave. "Oh hey, Sierra. No, I was just thinking out loud. I was actually looking for the guy who owns this. Did you two see anybody drive up with this thing?", Jack asked. 

Both girls shook their heads in the negative before Sierra stepped forward slightly and cleared her throat. "Um, Jack, I was wondering…"

_Crap, she's going to try and ask me out again, isn't she? I hate to be rude but how long does it take for this girl to get over a crush?_ While Jack's mind raced, trying to think of a way to politely turn the girl down, Jack caught the mirror of the bike twitch out of the corner of his eye. 

Before he could even register how odd it was for the mirror to move on it's own, Jack's eyes instinctively followed the direction indicated and saw two identical, dark purple muscle cars sitting just within the entrance of the parking lot. _Why do I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this?_

Before he could warn the two girls away, the two cars turned on their headlights, revved their motors and accelerated toward the teens with their tyres squealing the whole way. 

Then several things happened at once. Thankfully, Sierra and her friend took off screaming away from the restaurant. And the motorcycle spun itself around, at which point Jack gripped the handles reflexively. Then accelerated toward the narrow space between the two cars, fast enough to perform a wheelie. _Nice work Jack, out of every single motorcycle on Earth, you somehow managed to hitch a ride on a psychotic drone of some kind._ The teen thought to himself sarcastically. 

There was a loud, metallic screech and a shower of sparks as the blue bike shot between the two cars and all three vehicles traded paint. Then with a sharp turn, the bike pulled out onto the road. 

They had been going straight down the street for a moment, when Jack heard a female voice come from the motorcycle with a slight synthesised quality to it, "Do _not_ let go!".

Despite the situation, Jack couldn't help his knee jerk reaction, "No shit!". _Well, I guess it's good to know someone is driving this thing. Cause I'm sure as hell not!_

The teen had just enough time to look behind him and see that the pair of identical cars were still on their tail. Then each car came up on both sides of them. Right when the cars started to drift inward, whoever was controlling the bike hit the brakes. Allowing the two larger vehicles to crash into each other, lose control and stall. 

Taking advantage of the new gap created, the mysterious motorcycle and it's unwilling persinger gunned it towards the intersection then hung a hard right. After pulling about halfway up the street, the bike finally stopped and allowed Jack to dismount.

Stepping in front of the strange vehicle to look toward the headlight, Jack asked, "Who, what are you?".

The reply he received had a headed edge to it, along with a series of micro movements from the motorcycle that almost seemed expressive. "I didn't exist. Tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down!"

Jack threw his hands up in a gesture of surrender as he slowly made his way towards the alley on the side of the street. "Woah, I got it! Wouldn't be the first time." Then Jack turned down the alleyway and took off at a fast jog. Not even thirty seconds later, he glanced behind him and saw one of the purple cars following him. 

Turning around to face the vehicle, Jack said, "I didn't know who you are or what you want but I'm the last person on Earth you want to get in a fight with.". While he said this, his hand drifted behind his back to check the knife and sheath hidden in the waistband of his pants, under his shirt. 

The car actually paused at the other end of the alley, as if the driver didn't know what to make of the situation, then mistakenly concluded that Jack wasn't a threat and accelerated.

_Okay, I guess we're doing this then. But I'm still not killing anyone today if I can help it._ Jack thought to himself as he charged the rapidly approaching car.

  
  


A split second before he made contact with the grill of the car, Jack jumped upwards and forwarded. And dove both his feet through the windshield of the muscle car, right where the driver was supposed to be.

Among the usual expected sounds of shattering glass, a vehicle losing control and veering into the side of a building and ramming into a dumpster, Jack also heard an exclamation from a male voice with a similar synthesised quality to it like the bike. " **PRIMUS FRAGGING SCRAP!!!!** "

Glancing inside the vehicle for a fraction of a second before quickly climbing out of the window and jumping onto the pavement, Jack thought to himself. _Great, more drones._ Thinking quickly, he crouched down next to the hood, far enough away from the door for it not to be able to knock into him if the person controlling the vehicle tried to use it as a weapon, then quickly unsheathed his knife from behind him and drove it into the tire next to him.

Along with the sound of the exploding tire came, " **OW! THE PIT?!?! YOU MISERABLE HUMAN MEAT BAG!** ". Jack raised an eyebrow at that, _Human meat bag?_ He thought to himself questioningly. 

He didn't have time to ponder this any further however, as the blue motorcycle pulled up beside him and said, "Hop on!". Not seeing any better option, Jack did as he was told and the two of them peeled out of the alley, onto the next road and headed towards the interstate.

As they approached the entrance ramp the raven haired teen glanced over his shoulder when he heard an automated shifting noise. 

"Shit!" Jack yelled as he flattened himself against the bike as much as possible. Behind him, both cars had deployed a pair of cannons and opened fire. _And… I'm being shot at again. Mom's just gonna love this._ He thought to himself as they took the last curve onto the interstate itself. Glancing at the concrete wall they just passed, Jack noticed the scorch marks from the missed shots the cars fired. Or more precisely, the lack of any impact craters where the bullets should have been. _Energy weapons?_ Jack thought. 

As the bike straightened out and exhilarated, weaving its way through traffic Jack asked, " _You_ wouldn't happen to have any guns on here, would you?"

"None that you could use, kid. Just hold on!" The voice from the bike snipped back at him. 

The dark haired teen was about to reply when he heard a commotion behind him. Preparing for the worst, he quickly glanced over his shoulder and saw a yellow Camaro with black stripes pulling in between them and the two hostiles, doing it's best to run interference without causing a major accident.

"Friend of yours?" Jack asked to confirm what he thought he was seeing. 

"Family." Was the reply he received from the vehicle he was currently riding, in a much calmer tone.

Their relief was short-lived however as they heard the sound of cars crashing and tyres screaming. Jack didn't even have to look behind him to guess that their backup had been separated from them and the two hostile vehicles were closing the distance between them. 

Flattening himself against the seat to present a smaller target, Jack relaxed a bit when he looked ahead and saw that the road was completely empty. He then did a double take when the bike decided to bear right and headed full speed into a construction sign. Before he could panic, he saw a gap in the guardrail and the split second he noticed it, the motorcycle shot straight through without pause.

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_ **

As she heard the motorcycle coming towards them, Miko sutley scooted closer to Raf and let her hand slowly drift toward the pouch on her belt containing her knife. She barely had enough time to scan the area around them, looking for any advantages when a blue motorcycle shot overhead and stuck a landing before turning to face them. 

Raf's controller dropped to the ground with a thud. "Woah!" He whispered, stunned. 

Remembering the fight earlier today, Miko couldn't help thinking, _Wow, this kid is easily impressed. If he keeps hanging out with me and Jack, his mind is going to be permanently blown._

Seeing Jack on the bike, she was just fixing to say something about it when he looked up and answered Raf flatly, "You have no idea, Raf.".

Instantly, Miko recognized something in Jack's tone and posture that she _did not_ like. Putting a restraining hand on Raf's shoulder as the boy stood to take a closer look at the motorcycle. She asks, "What's up Jackrabbit?", in a direct, even voice. 

Jack carefully dismounted the bike while saying, "We're about to have company, Miko."

"What kind?" She shot back, while keeping her hand on Raf's shoulder. 

"Two heavily armed vehicles. Other than that, I'm not sure." Jack said as he walked over to his friends. He had just enough time to cross the distance as Raf gave an uncertain, fearful gulp. Then his eyes shot uphill, toward the sound of two large car engines. 

Miko followed her friend's reaction and watched as two purple muscle cars accelerated off the road, down the hill and into the air. Then with a strange mechanical sound that she had never heard before in her life and a blur of motion that no normal human eye would have ever been able to follow, the identical vehicles converted into a twin pair of humanoid biped giant robots, with a large glowing red visor where their eyes were supposed to be. 

A similar shifting noise snapped the attention of the three friends to where the mysterious bike was, and there, standing in its place was yet another humanoid robot.

With an obvious female figure, that was slightly shorter than the identical ones. It had dark blue plates on its head forming a helmet, across its chest making a bra-like shape, on the forearms, shins and crotch area, completing the image of a two piece swimsuit. As well as what appeared to be decorative pink plating along the sides of its face, elbows, shins and around its wrists, like a pair of spiked bracelets. As well as a prominent pink horn. It started in between the root's two glowing blue eyes and extended up at a slight Curve, well past the top of the helmet. And at the base of the horn was a darker pink diamond shaped indentation, which almost resembled a chakra stone. While most of the giant mechanical being appeared to be mostly made up of a combination of silver and gray metal, under the blue "armor", it's thighs, upper arms and shoulders were made from a much thinner black metal. 

After taking in the site, the three hyper analytical young people took a broader look at what appeared to be a robotic female standing before them and noticed that on "her" back were a pair of small wing like fins, that were attached to the back of the bra like structure and made of the same blue plating. And that where "her" knees were supposed to be, there were two massive silver spikes. Actually taking in the number of brightly colored sharp edges across the smaller robot's body, the two killers of the human trio weren't sure if they were looking at decorations or some kind of improvised close quarters weapons.

The female took a fighting stance and said definitely, "This ends _here_ , cons!". In response, the two purple clad identical mechanoids each converted one of their arms into what appeared to be cannons and opened fire on the female, sending out glowing red projectiles, similar in mass to medium sized artillery shells. 

The blue "female" very easily dodged the incoming fire as she quickly closed the distance between herself and the two trigger happy, larger robots. Repeatedly shifting her path from side to side, not even phased by the rapid fire of red hot energy headed her way. Then, she jumped into the air and crashed into one of the twin automatons with a flying kick.

The sound of metal thundering against metal was at least somewhat effective in breaking the trance that the spectacle had on the three observers. "What are they?" Raf asked slowly, his voice filled with awe. 

"Apparently, talking cars that turn into robots." Jack said calmly, not taking his eyes off the fight. 

"Or, ya know, the other way around." Miko chimed in, also not looking away from the phenomenon happening right in front of them. 

The three friends continued to watch as the brawl went on, the blue female dealing out far more blows than the other two combatants put together. Then, as the small acrobatic robot was laying into the only one of her opponents still standing at the moment, with each of her blows synced with an angry word as she said "This. Is. For. Cliff!", the other metallic Titan seemed to finally get its bearings as it recovered from the final punch and slowly turned its head toward the female robot. 

Seeming to realize that she had lost the temporary advantage her speed had given her, the smaller of the pair quickly hopped backward, out of striking distance before executing a long series of backflips as the meccanoid that had just been on the receiving end of the agile blue bot's powerful blows, once again opened fire.

Just barely staying ahead of the line of fire, the female continued her impressive gymnastics and had almost retreated back to her original position before a lucky shot caught her in the midsection, sending her crashing to the ground under the bridge that was just behind her. 

As the two cyclops like mechanoids approached the downed female with their weapons drawn, obviously intent on finishing her off, the sound of an accelerating vehicle caused the pair to look up just in time to see a yellow and black Camaro falling from the bridge overhead. With the mechanical shifting sound that was quickly becoming familiar for the three human spectators, a fourth bipedal robot joined the fray and landed on top of the robot closest to the female, then delivered a powerful right hook to the second one.

The friends watching quickly evaluated and sized up this new fighter. It was of similar shape and size to the pair of purple mechanical humanoids. The new bot was mostly yellow, with more rounded edges to the plates covering its body and noticeable portions of black metal visible from the seams in between the yellow armor, giving it a color pattern resembling that of a bee. The robot's head was also round, as opposed to its identical counterparts, with a mohawk like fin on the top of its head. And even though it had no visible mouth like the female, it also had two glowing blue eyes on a silver faceplate.

Allowing their eyes to roam a bit more, the three humans also spotted a steel grey piece over the yellow meccanoid's abdominal area. As well as two wing-like appendages on its back, made by it's car doors. Their eyes continued to follow the action as the yellow metallic humanoid pinned his opponent painfully to the concrete covered ground with its foot. 

Seemingly satisfied that it's opponent was down for the count, the newest combatant took a step back in victory, only to hear something crunch under its foot. 

Looking down with it's glowing blue eyes noticeably wider, the yellow bot lifted up its foot to see the remains of a toy R.C car. And then to the human's surprise, turned its head to address them. Jack and Miko raised their eyebrows at the confusing string of beeps and other tones, until Raf replied with, "No problem, really.". 

Unfortunately for the seemingly friendly mechanoid, the time it took for that brief conversation was all it's opponents needed to compose themselves and nail the distracted giant with a cheap shot that sent it crashing to the ground, landing face down. 

As the yellow and black robot tried to lift itself off the ground, one of it's enemies slammed a foot directly between it's door wings. And when the pinned mechanical being managed to turn over, it found two cannons pointed in face, point blank and ready to fire. 

Off to side, Jack and Miko had gotten over their initial shock at the spectacle and after glancing at each other in a brief silent conversation, were looking for an opportunity to slip away from the fight unnoticed. With this in mind, Jack saw that the female had slowly gotten back up and thought to himself while planning. _Okay, when the blue one gets back in there and its two on two, they'll all be too busy to notice that we're gone._ And then Raf boldly shouted, "Leave him alone!".

_...Well, shit._ Jack thought wide eyed as the two purple robots turned their weapons on him and his friends. Courtesy of their much faster than average reaction time, on top of the adrenaline that was now pumping through their veins, both Jack and Miko were able to process the details of their situation extremely quickly. Almost instantaneously they both realized that for the past few minutes, they had been watching four giant robots engaged in a fight to the death. And that they had been doing so standing almost completely still, in a totally exposed position. With a completely normal, untrained civilian child.

From there several things happened in rapid succession. After seeing the large cannons pointed at them, Raf gulps and says, "Please?" in a small, fearful voice. The trio hear one of the pair of sinister looking identical mechanoids say to the other, "Stay here. I call dibs on the humans." as the closest one starts walking toward them. Followed immediately after the other saying, "Ha! Sure Steve, go avenge your tires!". In a blur of motion, Miko scoops Raf up a fireman's carry while shouting, "Time to go!" and takes off at top speed. Instantly Jack snatches up the other boy's backpack and trails after them, instinctively taking position just behind his best friend.

As Miko led them around the corner toward a large cement drainage convert, "Steve" realized that the two older humans were running much faster than he had anticipated and that he was actually losing ground. Seeing where they were headed, he fired a single shot towards the top of the pipe, hoping to cause it to collapse and cut off their escape. 

However, the blast went a bit high and impacted the concrete wall directly above the pipe's exit. The area around the impact shook, shuttered and kicked up a ton of pulverized concrete dust but to the annoyance of their pursuer and the relief of the humans, the pipe itself appeared completely unaffected, which they quickly ducked into only to grind to a halt a moment later. 

"Shit!" Miko cursed after setting Raf down, allowing all three of them to see the cave-in deeper inside the tunnel, trapping them. 

Thinking quickly, Jack said, "Alright. Raf back to the wall!". The boy in question was quick to follow the young man's instructions, backing himself up to the pile of rubble, looking petrified now holding his backpack in a white knuckled grip. Meanwhile the two retired killers took position a couple of paces ahead, putting themselves between the preteen and anything that was about to come through the entrance of the man made tunnel.

Hearing the hostel mechanical titan who obviously realized that it had them trapped, slowly approaching, the two partners were quick to at least put together something resembling a plan. Looking over at Jack, Miko asked, "Still got your knife, Jackrabbit?" with a strange mix of cautious optimism and the slightest hint of disappointment.

Looking at her with a raised eyebrow in confusion, Jack answered, "Yeah, why?".

Miko let out huff and quickly started to unzip the pouch on her yellow belt, while saying, "Here, I wanted to wait till we had some time to ourselves but go ahead and swap with me."

Seeing what she was doing, Jack quickly reached behind his back and removed the knife and sheath hidden underneath his shirt and pants. After bringing the weapon around to where he could see it, Jack cast one more look at the Japanese Tanto knife he had kept with him for four years now before handing it over to its proper owner and accepting the old, familiar Ka-Bar in return. 

After turning the knife in his hand for a moment to reacquaint himself with the feel of it, Jack said to his best friend, "You do realize that we're getting ready to fight off a giant freaking robot with a pair of combat knives, right?" in a slightly concerned manner. 

Shrugging, Miko replied, "Eh, try to go for any soft spots I guess.", in a cheerful tone.

Jack instantly shot back in an indignant voice, "What soft spot, Miko? It's a giant _robot_!".

Rolling her eyes, Miko answered in a teasing tone, "Relax Jackrabbit, we'll figure _something_ out. Jeez!"

Sighing to himself, the dark haired young man thought to himself, _yeah, story of my life._

As the threat drew closer and Jack flipped his knife into a reverse grip before slipping into a combat stance, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that all of Miko's seemingly endless, hyperactive energy was now contained and harnessed. Focused on a single objective and target, the difference between a firecracker and a loaded gun. It always amazes him how quickly she can swap between the two. 

As a huge, black, clawed hand slowly reaches into the pipe towards them, Miko suddenly has an idea. Stepping slightly ahead of Jack, Miko quickly put her knife away, then she laid down flat on her back and calmly let the massive index finger just start to pass over her before wrapping her arms and legs around the first joint of the digit in a vice like grip.

Seeing what she was about to do, Jack dashed forward and aimed to drive his knife into the closest gap in the middle finger, around where the appendage was supposed to flex. 

With perfect timing, Miko used every ounce of strength in her body to twist the joint at the same moment that Jack's strike came down. They were rewarded with the sound of shrieking metal as something in the pointer finger wrenched and the bottom part of Jack's knife was covered in a glowing blue liquid.

The two teens were quick to let go and or back away from the hand as the robotic giant outside screamed and snatched its hand from the pipe. " **SON OF A GLITCH! THAT'S DOES IT!!!!** ", the angry meccanoid shouted. 

The next thing the three humans heard was the now familiar mechanical shifting sound. And then they watched the sinister metal giant jam the barrel of its cannon into the pipe, preparing to fire. 

Raf gave a startled yell as the two older teenagers snatched him up and pushed him against the left wall of the concrete tube, before pressing themselves on top of him as firmly as possible without causing injury. Using their own bodies as a shield for the young boy, Miko and Jack both had the same thought as closed their eyes. _The doc always said we'd die protecting civilians, she just didn't say anything about giant robots. Oh well, at least we'll go together…_

They heard the sound of the cannon charging and waited for the inevitable. And then suddenly, there were several thunderous crashes of metal clashing against metal followed by a pause, then the sound of several long, low, drawn out and concerned sounding beeps. 

Breaking their desperate huddle against the wall and opening their eyes, the three friends saw the yellow and black bot, with a clear look of worry on its face. And once again Raf was the one to reply, "No, we're okay. Thank you!".

After the yellow robot jogged away with a confirming beep and a thumbs up, the trio caught their breath for a moment before Jack spoke. "Okay, we need to get out of here as quickly as possible, we're sitting ducks in here. I'll clear away some of the rubble. Miko, move up a bit and give us a heads up if one of those things comes back. But try to stay out of sight. Raf, I want you to stay close to me in case we need to take cover again, okay pall?". 

The boy nodded his head, while Miko made her way to the exit of the pipe. Stepping lightly as she walked outside and around the corner, she kept to the shadows and tried to keep out of the giant's line of sight as best as she could. 

Once she had eyes on the group of fighting robotic titans, Miko saw that the blue female was back on her feet and had paired off with the yellow and black "male?" and the two were in a standoff with the identical robots. 

Just before the two opposing sides could charge at one another, a deep, blaring horn came up behind the more colorful automatons like a wave. 

The pair of blue eyed robots parted, making way as a shining set of headlights came up on the fight, revealing a large, green S.U.V. Stopping just behind the two blue and yellow humanoids, the new vehicle made the now unmistakable noise and covered into a massive green and gray bot. If Miko had to make a guess, this guy was obviously the mussel of the seemingly ragtag team of multicolored mechanoids.

The big guy's round body took up most of his mass, with two bulky arms that almost reached down to his solid but relatively short legs. The huge green brawler smashed his fists together challengingly and asked boldly, "Who's ready to rumble?".

In response, the pair of identical purple robots converted back into muscle cars and burnt rubber in the opposite direction. Actually shooting right past Miko without giving her a second thought. Looking back at the colorful trio, Miko saw the yellow one slouch forward in obvious relief, while the female put her hands on her hips and asked the newcomer, "What took you?". To which he simply shrugged and replied, "Traffic.".

Miko quietly chuckled to herself, _I like his style._ Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, making sure that the sound and flash were off, she carefully snapped a picture of the strange group. Afterwards, she heard a faint whistling that most people wood mistake for a random bird but was actually Jack giving an "All clear." signal. 

After Miko had rejoined them in the concrete drainage pipe, the rubble blocking their way was mostly cleared and the two older teens took a moment to help Raf over what was left of the obstacle. Finally on the other side, the three of them started making their way through the tunnel, with Jack's arm around Raf's shoulders and Miko on the boy's left side. 

After walking for a bit, Raf broke the silence, "What did we just see?". Even though Jack wasn't looking at her, he could feel Miko's eyes on him, obviously curious as to what her partner would say.

Jack sighed and replied slowly, "I didn't know for sure. And I'm not sure if I want to find out.".

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay really quick, I am so sorry this chapter took so long! A lot of things went wrong while working on this but it's all good now. And the next chapter mostly happens off camera, so it shouldn't take nearly as long to write. 
> 
> I also have some great news! I haven't just been Idol this whole time, I've found an artist on deviantART to do illustrations for this story. What I've seen so far looks really promising! But I'm not going to be posting them for a while because, spoilers! ;D


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